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According to UNTWO statutes, withdrawal is effective one year after the formal notice and this means Canada’s pullout was effective on May 12, 2012 — 18 days before Minister Baird announced his country’s pullout.
“The UNTWO wondered how its recognition of President Mugabe had played into Canada’s withdrawal when the country had already withdrawn its membership as a matter of fact,” added the source.
After realising it had lost the plot, Baird’s Press secretary Joseph Lavoie was quoted recently saying his boss “did not cite President Mugabe as the reason for its withdrawal but rather as an example of why Canada was leaving the UNTWO”.
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He confirmed that Canada had given its notice a year ago, but “the final step in that withdrawal process required an order-in-council, which Minister Baird signed after hearing the news of the appointment of President Mugabe”.
Canada owed about US$388 000 in yearly dues to UNTWO in 2011 and is one of the highest paying members.
Claims by Canada to have withdrawn from the UNTWO because of President Mugabe’s appointment have exposed that country’s unwarranted negative political obsession with Zimbabwe and the President in particular, analysts noted yesterday.
Zimbabwe has since dismissed the withdrawal as a non-event with Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi earlier this month saying the decision will not affect progress made so far in Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Online Reporter